Page 21 of Until August

“Yeah, it’s all good. So, listen, I was just thinking… would you like to come in for a trial shift? It’s not a guarantee you’ll get the job,” I cautioned. “But we can try it out and see if it’s a good fit.”

Silence. I checked my phone to see if he was still on the line. “August?”

He sighed. “Yeah, I’m here. You think this is a good idea?”

What the hell? “I thought you said… you know what? Just forget it. If you’re not interested, I’ll find someone else.”

“I’m interested.” He exhaled loudly. “Sorry. I’m just… I was in the middle of something. You caught me by surprise.”

Oh, my god. Was he in the middle of sex? I heard a door open and shut and then the wail of a siren as if he’d just stepped outside for some privacy. “If you were busy, why did you answer your phone?”

“I thought you were someone else.”

My jaw dropped. How freaking rude. “Wow. Okay. You know what? I’m just going to hang up now.”

“Wait. I can be there by two o’clock.”

I stared at the sky, wishing I hadn’t even made this call. I knew it was a stupid idea.

“Nicola. I want the job. I’d love to work for you.”

He’d just implied that he would have preferred to hear from someone else, and now he was trying to get back in my good graces? “I haven’t offered you a job. It would just be a trial shift.”

“No guarantees. I know.”

“And August?IfI agree to this, our relationship will be strictly professional.” I had no idea why I’d opened my big mouth, but it was out there now, and I couldn’t take it back.

He didn’t miss a beat. “Trust me. The very last thing I want or need right now is a relationship. Theonlything I want from you is a chance to work in your kitchen. See you at two.”

He cut the call, and I glared at my blank phone screen. Asshole.

I was half-tempted to call back and tell him I’d changed my mind. But I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of thinking his words had offended me. It wasn’t even what he said. It was how he’d said it. Like I was the very last person he would even consider.

It didn’t matter. I was the one with all the power. It was my restaurant, and I’d tell him it wasn’t a good fit after his trial shift.

There were plenty of good sous chefs out there.

I didn’t need August ‘Big Dick Energy’ Harper.

He probably didn’t even have a big dick. It was probably pencil thin. Teeny tiny. No bigger than a monkey nut.

I snort-laughed. And then I laughed harder, amusing myself with thoughts of his peanut dick. Because I still had the sense of humor of a twelve-year-old boy. And I was slowly losing a grip on my sanity.

CHAPTEREIGHT

August

I cutthe call and went back inside.

“Everything okay?” Rio asked as I slid into the booth across from him.

“Yeah. But I’ll have to head out soon. The call was about a trial shift.”

“I can’t believe anyone would make you do a trial shift.” He leaned back in his seat and spread his arm across the back of the red vinyl booth. “Don’t they know who you are?”

You would think I was the Second Coming. It shocked me that my former employees would put so much faith in me. “If they knew who I was, they wouldn’t offer me a trial shift.”

“Offer still stands,” Rio said, running his hand over his dark hair before replacing his red ball cap. “If it doesn’t work out, you’ve always got a job here. I know it’s not Michelin-starred….” He looked over at his girlfriend, Frankie picking up an order at the counter. “But it’s good, honest food.”